"It's not too often I can say I shot 65 and only made one putt, but that's kind of what I did today," he added after totalling 32 putts on smooth-running greens.

"I only made one putt and it was on the ninth. The rest were either two putts or kick-ins. It was a good ball-striking day."

Woods, 34, took a five-month break from the game going into this season in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to repair his marriage and embarked on the fourth swing change of his career in August.

Asked if he was back to his best after struggles on and off the course, Woods replied: "It's a process. I was putting together streaks of holes - two, three, four, five holes of this - and then I'd lose it for a little bit.

"I needed to get to a full round and then eventually a full tournament. Today was a full round, so that's a good start."

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